Sunshine
by spandexmonkey
Summary: (one-shot) Mini GotenTrunks friendship stuff. Goten's not feeling so good.


Hmm. this is something kind of short I wrote one day when I was feeling particularly. in the kind of mood to write something like this. I'm not confident it's that well written, so please review me! Thankees!  
  
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Goten lay on the grass on his stomach, closed his eyes, and buried his head in the greenness of the blades, experiencing the feeling of the warm sun on his back while he listened to the birds.  
  
A couple of feet away, Trunks lay down on his back, also with his eyes closed, soaking up the sun on the front of his body.  
  
Goten turned his head sideways to look at his best friend.  
  
Trunks caught the movement, and turned his head to meet Gotens gaze, frowning at the unusually sober expression on the other Demi-Saiyajins face.  
  
The two youngest members of the Z senshi had run away for the day, escaping their mothers and the pressures of school work, chores and training. Life was hard when you were only 7 and 8 (respectively), and expected to save the world and do chores and homework.  
  
The two Demis had found a glade in the sunshine, hidden away from the rest of the world and seemingly only reachable if you could fly. It was, therefore, a very appealing place for the two troublemakers to station themselves. For once, they had given up on the hyper active activity that was generally normal for them, and were simply relaxing.  
  
Or, at least, one of them was.  
  
Goten noticed Trunks' frown, and in an almost apologetic manner, re buried his head in his arms, inhaling the scent of the grass.  
  
Trunks rolled his eyes, and went back to staring up at the sky through his eyelids. A couple of minutes passed, and he opened his eyes again, sneaking a glance at Goten.  
  
Gotens shoulders had slumped, and Trunks frown re appeared.  
  
".Goten?" He asked, turning his head slightly to get a better look at his friend.  
  
Trunks watched Gotens back rise as he took in a deep breath and raised his head.  
  
"Yeah Trunks?" Replied Goten, in a voice that made Trunks feel slightly odd.. Like something bad was happening and Goten didn't really want to tell him.  
  
Gotens face was also worrying, he was smiling, but it wasn't in his eyes, and the smile seemed to make him look more sad than anything, although he was obviously trying hard to appear cheerful.  
  
Trunks stared, his trained mind automatically going over several possible things that could be wrong with his best friend, and finding nothing that was all that likely.  
  
"What's wrong?" Asked Trunks eventually, feeling a little stupid, and a little worried, and feeling something else that he wasn't quite sure of. He pushed the stupidity and worry away with boyish pride that his mother told him he'd inherited from his father. He couldn't very well push the other thing away, it seemed more important anyhow, and he wasn't sure it should be just discarded.  
  
Gotens eyes widened a little, and once again he looked apologetic. "Nothings wrong!" He said, grinning still in the same strange manner. Trunks didn't know anyone else who could smile and look so sad, and it made something pang deep down in his chest. He could almost feel the feeling rolling off Goten, and he didn't like it.  
  
Trunks looked at Goten a little more. Goten had gone back to observing the grass, and had obviously forgotten that Trunks was still watching him. He was no longer faking a smile.  
  
"I.. Goten, what's wrong?" asked Trunks, the horrible unidentifiable feeling beginning to get worse. He tried to make his voice commanding, he didn't understand why Goten wouldn't tell him, and it scared him when someone that happy was suddenly so.. down, for no reason that he could see.  
  
Goten began plucking at bits of grass, and swallowed a lump in his throat. "You'll think I'm being stupid if I tell you." He said, so quietly that Trunks had to work out what Goten had actually said. He pulled carefully pulled at more bits of grass, simply to occupy himself.  
  
Trunks felt a lump in his own throat, but wouldn't let it show. He rolled back onto his back, and noticed that the sun wasn't as pleasantly warm anymore. He breathed out, and his purple bangs fluttered in his face. He would need a haircut soon, he registered vaguely, it was starting to get annoying.  
  
"Tell me," he said, and wrinkled his nose mentally at the whiney pitch in his voice. He hated sounding like he cared about anything. That was another thing Bulma told him was inherited from Vegeta.  
  
After a couple of moments of silence, Trunks sighed out loud. "Goten, what's bugging you? I mean, if it's one of those things.." He let the sentence hang, not sure exactly which one of those 'things' he had meant to specify, but hoping Goten understood what he was finding hard to say.  
  
Goten pushed himself up from the grass, and sat back on his feet untill he was in a kneeling position. He looked down at his knees, visibly miserable.  
  
"Why don't you like me?" Gotens voice was quiet, and he sounded very small.  
  
Trunks caught the question, none the less, and his eyes went wide as he replayed what he had just heard. Trunks sat up, and stared at Goten, who was still staring down at his lap. His hands were in fists at his sides, as a result of trying to re channel his emotional energy.  
  
Trunks realised that Goten expected an answer. He wondered what to say, then decided to speak.  
  
"You're my best friend.." He said, incredulously.  
  
Goten didn't reply, and he didn't look at Trunks. His expression, if anything, became more miserable. "I didn't.."  
  
Trunks cut him off. "Goten, you're my best friend. That means I like you, best, out of all the people I know." His tone was wavering, and he didn't like that way it sounded.  
  
Gotens head shrunk to his chest. "I know.. Sorry."  
  
Trunks stared. "No, I.. Goten, what?" He was suddenly hit by a thought of Goten leaving him. The suns heat had disappeared, and Trunks felt a cool breeze flutter through his hair and clothing.  
  
Goten got up, and Trunks paled. "I'll go now, I've.. I'm being stupid. I'll go home," he said miserably, and turned to the edge of the clearing.  
  
Moving faster than was really necessary, Trunks was suddenly blocking Gotens way. He looked into his friends face, and was horrified at the expression he saw. Trunks resisted the sudden urge to hug his best friend, and instead stood there, firmly blocking Gotens way.  
  
"Goten," he said, definitely not liking the panicky note that his voice was starting to leak, "Whats wrong? Tell me why you said that!"  
  
Goten looked up to him with wide eyes, and Trunks was suddenly very afraid that Goten might cry.  
  
His fears were confirmed when Goten collapsed onto his knees on the floor, tears streaming quietly down his face. The image was louder to the purple haired Demi than any sounds that Goten was could make, and Trunks suddenly found himself on his knees with his arms around his friend, and his face frozen in perfect dysphoria.  
  
Trunks could feel Gotens shaking, and sobbing convulsions, his face was buried just below the other boys shoulder. He felt twin tear tracks run down his own cheeks, and held on to his friend tighter, focusing on the feeling of Gotens hair around the bottom of his face.  
  
After a couple of minutes, Goten had calmed down slightly, and Trunks slowly pulled away enough to look at him face to face. Goten was looking directly at him, and his eyes were full of something Trunks had rarely seen, quite apart from the tears.  
  
"I hate it Trunks," said Goten, looking into Trunks' eyes, his voice quiet and unsteady. Gotens gaze flickered to the moisture on Trunks' face, and he seemingly automatically lifted his hands to wipe them away. Trunks could only look at him, his arms still wrapped around his friends torso. The material at the back of Gotens Gi was bunched up in Trunks' fists.  
  
"Goten, whats wrong," repeated Trunks, quieter, his voice like a whisper. He didn't care how he looked now, the unidentifiable feeling in his chest had taken over, and he began to recognise it as the same feeling he got whenever he was worried or scared for Goten. It was the feeling of watching your best friend get into trouble when you have no idea how to fix what's wrong.  
  
Trunks hated it, too.  
  
Goten had calmed more, and the effect of his face, his tear streaked cheeks and his red rimmed eyes made him look young, and induced a protective surge of emotion in Trunks.  
  
"A while ago I made my mum cry, because I look like my dad. I don't even know my dad, Trunks," said Goten, still looking awful, but Trunks saw his best friend, as he knew him.  
  
It made him feel like whatever Goten was going through, he would at least be able to help.  
  
"And she.." Goten sniffed. "She told me off for not studying as much as Gohan. I think she had a headache, and I guess she said she was sorry, but it still.." Goten trailed off, not knowing how, or not really wanting, to finish his sentence.  
  
"And then I thought.. Because my dad wasn't there, and because.." Goten sniffed, and swallowed again. "I started wondering if you only wanted to hang around with me because.. If you didn't really like me," Goten broke off, sounding dangerously close to tears again, and Trunks grabbed again him in another hug. This time, he felt Gotens arms reach around his waist and hug him back.  
  
Trunks tried not to cry, and squeezed his eyes shut for a second.  
  
"I think that I like you more than everyone else I know, Goten," he began, fairly sure of what he wanted to say but not so sure as to how to put it. "You're my best friend, and.." Trunks stopped, unable to voice his feelings.  
  
"Thanks Trunks," came a muffled reply from against his shoulder. He felt Goten squeeze him tighter, then let him go. The two sat on the ground, not so far away; the beginnings of a smile on Gotens face making Trunks feel a whole lot better.  
  
"I am your best friend," re-affirmed Trunks. Though the sentence came in warning tones, Goten understood it, and smiled.  
  
"Yay," he said, and Trunks was glad to see the smile reaching his best friends eyes. "You're my best friend ever, Trunks. Thanks. I am stupid," he said, and though he was smiling, Trunks still caught the last words for what they were.  
  
"Not really," he replied, his face revealing more than his heart would let him tell.  
  
As an effort to break the solemn air between the companions, Trunks jumped forward mischievously to attack Goten. Goten laughed, and went along.  
  
The mood passed as the demi saiyajins began to play fight, and rolled through the air laughing.  
  
Trunks grinned, and the grin was widely returned by his best friend in the world.  
  
The sun was pleasantly warm again. 


End file.
